Head-shagging parrot appointed as 'spokesbird' for New Zealand
A fat, flightless parrot who shot to fame after attempting to have sex with a TV presenter's head has been appointed a 'spokesbird' by the New Zealand government.
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/811225-head-shagging-parrot-appointed-as-spokesbird-for-new-zealand
Sirocco the Kakapo: now an official 'spokesbird' Sirocco the kakapo achieved international fame after he was filmed trying to mate with zoologist Mark Carwadine's head on the BBC show Last Chance To See - much to the amusement of Carwadine's co-presenter Stephen Fry, who said: 'This is one of the funniest things I have ever seen, you are being shagged by a rare parrot.'
A clip of the head-shagging kakapo has gained over 1.6million views on YouTube (see the clip below).
Sirocco, one of just 124 kakapo still alive, has now been named a conservation ambassador by New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key, who said that the bird's celebrity status made him ideal for the role: 'He's very media-savvy, he's got a world-wide fan base - they hang on every squawk that comes out of his beak.'
Sirocco's job will be to draw attention to the wildlife of new Zealand, and the conservation efforts attempting to preserve it.
The kakapo is a flightless, nocturnal parrot which almost became extinct after human settlers both hunted it and introduced predators like rats and cats to the islands where they lived. Numbers got as low as just 51 alive in 1995, but a conservation program has since increased the number to over 100.
Sirocco now has his own website and, naturally, a Twitter stream.
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